ANZ research released in January 2010, revealed 56 per cent of Australian women have no long-term savings plan and that they are in a financial mess, leaving them extremely vulnerable to unexpected life changes such as job loss or divorce.
More than half admitted that they don't save money on a regular basis and with the same number of respondents estimating that they wouldn't last more than 3 months if they lost their jobs.
The research revealed that a quarter of women surveyed, typically spent their entire pay packet while almost 60% have a nest-egg of less than $5,000 and a third with less than $1,000.
Carolyn Bendall, ANZ's head of customer marketing said most women had no strategy in place for achieving their financial goals.
"You would be surprised how money spent on incidentals can add up. Simply taking a home-made lunch to work every day can save you $200 a month." she said.
So the simple message is that most women should start thinking about their long term financial future and to put plans in place to arrest this alarming trend.